The Rosetta Stone and the Rebirth of Ancient Egypt

Editor's Pick for June 19, 2007

Joan W. Gartland, Detroit P.L. -- Library Journal, 6/19/2007

Ray, John. The Rosetta Stone and the Rebirth of Ancient Egypt. Harvard Univ. (Wonders of the World). Jun. 2007. c.208p. illus. index. ISBN 978-0-674-02493-9. $19.95. HIST

Ray (Egyptology, Cambridge Univ.) gives us a gem of a book, a multifaceted study of the Rosetta stone, the British Museum's most visited artifact, which was discovered by the French in 1799 during Napoléon's expedition to Egypt. The stone's text, containing a decree by the pharaoh Ptolemy V in the year 196 B.C.E. written in three scripts (hieroglyphs, demotic, and Greek), provided the breakthrough in deciphering hieroglyphs, thus opening up the previously mysterious world of ancient Egypt. While the stone's story is well known, Ray's engagingly written book is exceptional in many regards, demonstrating the author's skills as a teacher. Readers will also glean insights into the personalities of Jean-François Champollion, who ultimately received credit for deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs in 1822, and the lesser-known British polymath Thomas Young, who had previously interpreted the stone's cartouches. Ray also provides guidelines on how to decipher texts. Laypersons will be caught up in the puzzle-solving elements of Egyptologists' work, not to mention the glamorous aura that the modern mind seems to attach to all things Egyptian. For public and academic libraries and special collections in history and Egyptology.